Heading into each NHL season, I like to spend some time looking through each team’s roster to find those players who have perhaps eluded our radar and might be on the verge of a break-out year. In previous instalments, I sifted through the roster sheets of the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens and found some players who will impact their respective teams. I’ll stay in the new Atlantic Division, and briefly discuss two Senators who I feel might have an impact on Ottawa this coming season.
Colin Greening is a 27-year-old for the Ottawa Senators. The left-winger was drafted in 2005 by the Sens in the seventh round, 204th overall. After he was drafted, he played four seasons at Cornell University serving as Captain in his junior and senior years, not missing a single game in either season. After graduating, he switched to the Binghamton Senators (Ottawa’s junior team). He made his NHL début in February 2011 against New Jersey, and scored his first goal against the Atlanta Thrashers on May 19th. In the 2010-2011 season, Greening played twenty-four games, scored six times and recorded seven assists. He then signed a three-year deal with the Ottawa Senators extending to the 2013-2014 season.
During the 2011-2012 season he played eighty-two games scoring seventeen times and assisting on twenty goals. And in the shortened season he played forty-seven games and scored eight times and assisted in eleven. He has some success in the playoffs as well, with 3 goals and an assist.
This season is his last season to prove to the team that he should get a contract extension. Greening is projected to start on the forth line, the same line as Erik Condra (RW) and Zack Smith (C). He certainly has room to grow as a player. I anticipate that he moves from that fourth line, working his way up in the pecking order. With extended ice time and the possibility of playing on a more talented line, Greening could become one of the ‘unknown’ players who will be on the top of the leader board in points with some of the top players like Spezza and Karlsson. Lofty expectations? Perhaps, but I really think he will do well this season.
Cory Conacher is a 23-year-old player, who in his first season in the NHL (2012-2013) played for three different teams. He played for one AHL team (because of the lockout) – the Syracuse Crunch. During that time he was called to the Tampa Bay Lightning training and made a good impression. The team immediately signed him on a two-year, two-way contract. He played his first NHL game on January 19th, 2013, against the Washington Capitals, scoring his first NHL goal in that game. At the trade deadline, his team traded him to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for goaltender Ben Bishop. He played twelve regular season games with the Senators, scoring twice and assisting three times. In the eight playoff games he was a part of, he scored three times with no assists.
Conacher’s past was a bit tough. He was born with a rare condition where his bladder was formed outside his body. At just five days old, he had a long ten-hour surgery to reconstruct his pelvic bone. The surgery was successful, but doctors did warn his parents that he may have difficulty walking. Not only is he walking, he is playing in the NHL. In addition to this rare condition, he was also diagnosed with type one diabetes. Conacher has persevered, and in the up-coming season, he will be a healthy player, playing most of his games alongside Turris and Neil. Though still very young, he is a key player that the team will increasingly rely on in their pursuit of playoff hockey again this season. For me, the way he works with other players will help give them the push they need.
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